Those who are far too familiar with the liturgical debates will likely see this article and assume that it is another salvo in the endless back and forth between traditionalist and reformist Catholics over some aspect of the liturgy of the holy Mass. This, however, is not another testament in the history of that most thorny and unfortunate conflict, but is rather a broader reflection on the nature of modern music in the context of Catholicism.
As Catholics, we are called to embrace that which is good, true, and beautiful; that is, those things that appeal to the senses, serve God and His kingdom properly, and represent deeper moral truths within the Christian way of life. Thus, when we pick music to listen to, we are morally compelled to not merely default to that which is popular or that which most appeals to our personal taste, but instead to seek that which serves this larger ideal.
In this sense, we are what we eat. In the same way that our physical health is profoundly affected by what we eat, so too is our mental and spiritual health influenced by the media that we consume. The music we listen to, like all of the media that we consume, affects our view of the world. Just as spending hours upon hours listening to nihilistic, atheistic, and otherwise morally compromised podcasts and television programs is inadvisable, so too is the consumption of morally reprobate music. Thus, we are called to cull our media of evil influences, and seek instead only that which is inclined toward those things which are good, true, and beautiful.
This also raises a second question: how does one go about addressing what is good, true, and beautiful? The first step is to examine the lyrics of the music itself. If a song is replete with profanities, is insulting toward God, women, masculinity, and pious heroism, or otherwise assaults traditional Church teaching, then it should be approached with much care or entirely removed from our spiritual diet.
On the other hand, music that encourages devotion to Christ such as hymns or modern Christian music can serve as a helpful aid in our quest to orient our lives to Christ. Even secular music that simply encourages and praises the positive virtues that we Christians seek to cultivate in ourselves is suitable to this end. Music that calls the soul to higher places can be seen as the antithesis to that which causes or inspires sin, a kind of moral medicine seeking for us a higher means of living.
This leads us to another lesson on music: for better or worse, it influences our emotions, and our proclivity towards sin and good. Music influences our emotions, for better or worse. It can elicit almost any emotion from human beings, from amorous desires, to respect and reverence. Thus, in addition to removing that music that is intrinsically sinful, such as that replete with cursing and glorification of sinful conduct, we should also ensure we only listen to music that is appropriate for our circumstances.
Say, for example, one is alone with a woman or man they are dating but are not yet married to, listening to three and half hours of romantic music, full of the constant serenade of an aspiring musical Romeo. This is obviously misguided and may drive the otherwise chaste and devout couple to commit sexual sin. Similarly, when attempting to study, write, or work, filling one’s ears with club music is unwise, and can make one unable to focus on the work at hand. If we instead seek to use music for its proper purpose, at the proper time, we can use the emotional effects of music to our great benefit, meanwhile, if we misuse it, we will create serious problems for ourselves and our souls.
Devoted Christians must thus understand and manage their music through two vectors: first, we must judge the morality of the contents of music, by both its lyrics and story. This is its intrinsic purity, or lack thereof. Second, we must understand the context in which we are playing it. It is wrong to harm one’s soul, or even mere productivity, with musical misuse. Music is a powerful tool for influencing the human soul, and we should accordingly direct its use to holy ends.